Sophal is a rare voice of calm

10:55 AM,
May 30, 2014

Peang-Meth

Written by

Gaffar Peang-Meth

In the world of Cambodian politics -- where people increasingly express their anger against the country's ruling party using aggressive, intemperate language -- a rare voice of calm and reflection arrived in the form of an email from a Khmer expatriate in North America. That rational voice and the powerful story behind it inspires this column.

The conventional tableau of Khmer Buddhism that paints Khmer Buddhists as serene, placid, accepting does not describe Chan Sophal, born in Phnom Penh to a family of two different cultures.